All posts tagged potash

Australia-listed Minbos Resources is seeking up to 3 million Australian dollars (US$3.14 million) for working capital while it obtains a strategic funding partner, according to a term sheet seen by Deal Journal Australia.

The raising — led by Patersons Securities — is being conducted in two tranches at 14 cents a share, a 26.3% discount to the miner's last-traded price.

Minbos, which is developing phosphate and potash prospects in the Cabinda Province of Angola and Western Democratic Republic of Congo, entered a trading halt late Tuesday citing a capital raising.

Lithium producer Orocobre Ltd. is seeking up to 25 million Australian dollars (US$26 million) for working capital and to fund its Argentina-based Salar de Olaroz and Borax Argentina projects, according to a term sheet seen by Deal Journal Australia.

The raising — led by Canaccord Genuity — is split between a share placement which will raise around A$20 million and an up to A$5 million share purchase plan. It is being conducted at a range between A$1.70 a share and A$1.75 a share, representing a between 5.7% and 8.4% discount to the stock’s last-traded price of A$1.855 a share.

BHP Billiton is staying tightlipped on speculation it has decided to exit from a potash development in Ethiopia, even as the mining behemoth is expected to seek approval from its board later this year for the massive Jansen project in Canada.

Joel Jackson, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said that according to local sources BHP is believed to have decided to withdraw from the potash project in the African country. The company is reportedly closing down the camp at the site and is in the process of auctioning off equipment, Mr. Jackson said in a research report.
The Melbourne-based company said it isn’t its policy to comment on the specifics of its exploration programs.

Australian exploration firm Elemental Minerals Ltd. is considering options including a possible merger to help fund the development of its Sintouka potash project in the Republic of Congo, which it has estimated could produce 1.8 million metric tons a year of the crop nutrient.

Elemental, listed on the Australian and Toronto stock exchanges, in a statement said it has appointed BMO Capital Markets to assist with identifying and considering strategic alternatives. The options include financing opportunities for the project through a minority investment by a strategic partner, agreed sales of potash or other deals including a merger, it said.

Elemental Minerals, which is developing a potash deposit in sub-Saharan Africa, isn’t alone among junior resources companies in considering an offtake partner as a way to raise funds.

But while its ASX-listed peers look east to the rapidly growing economies of China and India, Elemental wants first to go west to Brazil. And that’s where the challenge lies.

Elemental owns the Kola potash deposit in the Republic of Congo and hopes to build a mine with an annual capacity of 2 million tons of the key ingredient in making fertilizer. First sales could start as early as 2015, with the mine ramping up to full production in 2018. An early estimate pegged the cost of developing the project at US$1.67 billion.

Galaxy Resources is set to acquire Canada-listed Lithium One in an all-share deal that values the target at C$109 million (US$109 million), a person familiar with the matter told Deal Journal Australia Friday.

Perth-based Galaxy is poised to offer 1.8 of its own stock for each Lithium One share, the person said. Lithium One owns the Sal de Vida project in Argentina that contains both lithium and potash, a mineral used in fertilizers.

About Deal Journal Australia

Deal Journal Australia is an up-to-the-minute take on the deals and deal makers that shape the Australian landscape, including mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings, private equity and debt markets. In short, wherever money changes hands. Deal Journal Australia is updated throughout each trading day with exclusive commentary, analysis, data, news flashes and profiles. The Wall Street Journal’s Gillian Tan is the lead writer, with contributions from other Journal and Dow Jones reporters and editors. Send news items, comments and questions to gillian.tan@wsj.com.

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